Alessandro De Francesco

∗1981, Italy
lives and works in Basel, Switzerland

Poetic narrative Überwasser / Sureghes/ Oltretorrente by Alessandro De Francesco, commissioned for the Biennale Gherdëina VI and conceived by the artist during a short residency in Val Gardena, is a manifesto of an “intimate immensity” of the Dolomites: a series of sensual tableaux that along with a lexicon of the nature’s elemental language provide a prototype for WRITING THE MOUNTAINS multiple scenarios. De Francesco’s six short poems explore in a gestural and subjective way the essence of a site, its lyrical dimension and a relationship with a human being; his is an imaginary conversation with the woods and the waters, the peak’s curved lines, the infinite skin of space…; an act of poetic generosity and an acknowledgment of the nature’s hospitality and uniqueness.
Alessandro De Francesco considers poetry as an artistic practice; his work which he describes as “language art” focuses on the interaction between poetry, sound art, installation, digital writing, and page design. De Francesco "reading environments" and "augmented writing" consist of sonic and visual enhancements of multiple textual materials by means of reading digital voice processing and writing design software.

Alessandro De Francesco and Adam Budak prepared a series of questions to ask to people who could represent the community of Val Gardena. The interviews were conducted by Adam Budak with a participation of Beatrix Insam, Moritz Senoner, Ivan Senoner, Alexandra Grant Senoner, Hannes Senoner, Gabriel Moroder, Simon Moroder, Tobia Moroder.
From these interviews originated a film, shot and edited by Santiago Torresagasti, and a sound installation realized by Alessandro De Francesco with the voices recorded during the interviews.
ith Un motore poetico, Dolomitithe artist pays a tribute to Val Gardena local community. A series of interviews with some representatives of the region’s political, cultural and social life develop the notion of belonging and emphasize the significance of the natural environment and its influence upon everyday life as well as upon the construction of an individual and a collective identity.